Drifter Faces Murder Trial as Lower Court Is Overruled

Reversing a Municipal Court decision, a Van Nuys Superior Court judge ruled Friday that the prosecution had established a strong enough case to hold a 43-year-old drifter for trial in the stabbing and bludgeoning death of his Canoga Park parents in February.

Judge James A. Albracht found that Van Nuys Municipal Judge Robert H. Wallerstein ruled erroneously when he dismissed two murder charges against Robert L. Spitz after a preliminary hearing in October.

Municipal judges who found insufficient evidence linking Spitz to the crime had twice dismissed the charges against Spitz.

No Witnesses

There were no witnesses to the Feb. 25 killings of Marvin Spitz, 69, and his wife, Myrtle, 68, in their home on the 24600 block of Kittridge St.

Barred by law from filing charges a third time, the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office appealed Wallerstein’s decision to Superior Court.

After reading the transcript of the preliminary hearing and listening to arguments from the prosecution and defense, Albracht said he “had no trouble in granting the motion” to reinstate charges against Spitz.

“I thought this was going to be a lot more difficult,” Albracht said. “It just seems to me clear that there was sufficient evidence.”

Charges Ordered Reinstated

Albracht’s ruling sent Spitz’s case back to Municipal Court with an order requiring Wallerstein to reinstate the murder charges and hold Spitz for trial. Albracht also ordered Spitz, who has been held in Camarillo State Hospital on a 180-day psychiatric commitment, returned to County Jail without bail.

At Friday’s hearing, Deputy Dist. Atty. Ed Consiglio reviewed evidence from the preliminary hearing that he said linked Spitz to the killings. The evidence included a neighbor’s testimony that she saw Spitz at his parents’ home on Feb. 24, 25 and 26.

He said Spitz had also left his “calling card” in several places in the house by tracking blood into the guest bedroom, which he used when he was there, and by taping sheets of paper over pictures on the wall, one of his known idiosyncrasies. Also, he said, Spitz had made threats against his parents to one of his brothers.

Consiglio said nothing of value was taken from the house, eliminating robbery as a motive. He said Spitz’s motive was hatred of his parents.

Deputy Public Defender Barry A. Taylor argued that “there are just not enough facts.”

Taylor said the prosecution had failed to establish adequately the time of death and challenged the neighbor’s sighting of Robert Spitz outside the home as unreliable.

Albracht said he could see how the many pieces of circumstantial evidence might have appeared disjointed after a long preliminary hearing, but that on reviewing the transcript with the luxury of time for reflection, he found a “coherent picture” in the evidence.